Insurgent

The word "insurgent" means to actively revolt, implying some distinctiveness that sets its participants apart from the norm. Ironically, the film Insurgent, a faded photocopy of other teen- scifi-dramas, doesn't have a single unique bone in its body. Not that it's aggressively terrible. There are some decent scifi elements and even a couple of mildly intriguing moments. But like clockwork, every slight turn for the better is quickly overwhelmed by extreme boredom. Like a forgettable SyFy channel series masquerading as a blockbuster film, Insurgent is simply a dull and uninteresting sequel. That word "sequel" should connote a progression of sorts, but no. As little as I remember about the previous entry in the Divergent Series, I can tell you this: shaky cam action scenes, bloviating about "special ones", and constant fighting for the McGuffin-of-the- week were the focus and are still in full form here. At the center is Woodley, an actress with a whole heckuva lot of talent that simply doesn't have the presence of strength to carry this sort of role. She presents a microcosm problem for an entire film full of great actors terribly miscast. Teller and Elgort manage some natural charisma and charm from their otherwise absent characters, Watts and Spencer are all but completely missing, and Winslet is just plain wasted. It's none of their fault; they just can't make the embarrassingly constant melodrama palatable. Even if it was laughably bad there might be something to cling to, but it's not bold enough to even warrant that reaction. Insurgent only serves as a lame, achingly dull placeholder until the next Hunger Games installment.

This film pretty much picks right up where the last one ended with very little time lapse. Jeanine's (Kate Winslet) has issued an order that all divergents need to be killed until her soldiers find a box that was kept in Tris (Shailene Woodley) parents' house and she has discovers that she will need a divergent to open it. Tris, Four (Theo James), Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and Peter (Miles Teller) have found refuge in a little village governed by Johanna (Octavia Spencer) until the hunting begins. Eric (Jai Courtney) and Max (Mekhi Phifer) have retained their blind loyalty to Jeanine; however I think that Eric has gotten even nastier whereas Max is just trying to do his job. I have to say that loyalty is a big element in this film….. you just never know. This film actually kept up a good pace and there was very little lull time. They said that there would be a lot more action in this film. I don't know about "a lot" more, but there was definitely more than the last one. I was also glad to see that Tris was no longer wimpy when it came down to fighting, however emotionally she was feeling pretty guilty. They really beat that dead horse throughout the film. I did not see this film in 3D, but because of all the special effect, that might have been a mistake. Man, computer generated imagery has sure come along way. It really makes me look forward to some of the upcoming films this summer like Jurassic World and Terminator. I am happy for my fellow German director Robert Schwentke who has successfully bounced back from that armpit of a film, Rest in Peace Department, RIPD for short, that he directed back in 2013. You can only go up from that one. Anyway, I think that this film will do well especially with the "tween" crowd; and once you've invested in the series it's kind of hard to not find out what happens next. Do I think that this film was one of the best films I've seen this year……. Nope, but it was entertaining and didn't suck. I don't recommend that you see this film if you haven't seen Divergent. This one holds its own, but you'll enjoy it more if you've seen the first one.

Is it just me or is anyone else getting annoyed with all these studios trying to adapt book series for the dollars. Harry Potter was awesome. Twilight was...meh. Then they attempted to do The Host and that other movie with Lily Collins that was just horrid. So when Divergent came out I just couldn't take it. But I saw it and enjoyed it. The plot was very intriguing, despite Shailene Woodley. I don't know what it is but I feel like Hollywood is trying to make her the new Jennifer Lawrence and I don't endorse that idea.

But....I had to see the sequel and let me say, this movie does not disappoint. I have never read the books and don't follow the blogs or anything and the plot is so interesting, I'm never sure where it's going to go so I was on the edge or my seat the entire. And dare I say it, Shailene Woodley has made a fan out of me because she shines in this movie. She is very convincing when she's vulnerable and emotional but equally as good when she has to be a tough fighter. The haircut grew on me as well.

I'm certain that fans of the book will enjoy this film adaption but I think the general audience will enjoy it just as much. They're also not selfish with the action. I didn't realize how much action would be in this movie but was pleasantly surprised and eager to see more. The ending was definitely not something I expected and because of how it ended, I'm curious as to where the next two installments will go, I have an idea because Four's mother seems like a self-serving, deceitful beotch.

Overall, without giving too much away, this movie will be a treat for everyone who loves science fiction that's not cheesy or predictable. the relationship between Tris and Four is not overdone or cheesy either. It's believable and doesn't annoy like a Bella, Edward and Jacob love triangle would. I would 100% recommend this movie to anybody. You won't be disappointed 4DX is not a bad way to watch a movie. I prefer the regular way and on a good day, 3D will suffice but my friend insisted we see it in 4DX and it added a special something to the overall experience.

A 4 is probably generous. I'm getting sick of the Elysium genre and this is the same thing with the exception of some vivid dreams. The elites have sequestered themselves on the same planet this time. The plot is the elites can and do openly mind control everyone and segregate the population the way they think it should be separated, but some special people can't be mind controlled and have to be dealt with, by violence of course. Suffice it to say it gets weird. I mean weird. Goofy. Nonsensical. Unbelievable. All accurate descriptions of this out of control mess. I didn't see the first one, and now probably won't because I already want this 2 hours back.

My brother and I are fans of the books and we generally enjoyed the first film. However, this film doesn't amount to either. Sure, the visuals aren't bad, I especially like the look of the film and the action wasn't bad. The big problem with this is mostly just the storyline. It just seems quite bland.

That's really all I can say. This film is just bland.